Can't stream in 4K from Prime Video

[dannyboy75]

Hi,

I have a Bravia 49XE9005, which I believe has Chromecast Ultra (as opposed to standard Chromecast), but am unable to stream from Prime Video in 4K/UHD. I can find 4K titles in Prime Video (though not that many), but when I watch any of them, they only show in the status bar as streaming at 1080p.

My internet connection is 50Mbps, and my TV is connected to my router via Ethernet. Is there maybe a setting I'm missing somewhere in Prime Video? A

thanks

Danny

[AstroSmurf]

Hi, have you enabled 4k within HDMI settings(via external inputs) that the chromecast is plugged into? Also you can only use either of the 2 ports that is 4k enabled

[AstroSmurf]

If your talking about built in chromecast then not sure,  i have looked for info on this can't find valid answer. Use amazon prime app on your tv instead, no need to cast then 

[dannyboy75]

Hey, thanks for the replies.

I'm using the integrated Chromecast in the TV, which I believe is the Ultra (4k) version but I'm not 100% sure. It would seem a bit daft to install non-Ultra version of Chromecast in a 4K TV, but nothing surprises me these days

When you say to use the Prime App on the TV instead, I think I already am, unless I'm being really thick? (which is entirely possible). I'm pressing the Home button on the remote, to bring up the Chromecast screen and selecting Prime Video from there.

thanks

[AstroSmurf]

You can use the app directly without going via cast. I think it is already installed. If not go to play store and install

[dannyboy75]

I'm sure that's what I did when I was first setting up the TV, will check later though. Is there another way to launch apps then, without going via the Home button?

[AstroSmurf]

Press discover on remote and scroll down to apps

[dannyboy75]

Thanks, hadn’t realised you can launch apps that way. Same result though - only 1080p in Prime Video. It’s odd as watching 4K vids in YouTube,

I'm pretty sure those are streaming in uhd as they look stunning. Will do some more testing tomorrow. 

[AstroSmurf]

You can check when streaming on youtube just click i think info/more bottom left of screen ,then you will see a blue square with 4k in or HD

[dannyboy75 · Accepted solution]

I finally figured this out - was googling this morning and stumbled across this thread where the OP had the same issue, and found the answer. 

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8364654

For those programmes which are available in UHD on Prime, you have to actually find the separate UHD version. Just selecting the standard HD version, it won’t automatically switch to UHD when it starts playing. 

It doesn't seem the most intuitive bit of UI design, but this basically means scrolling down through about 20 or so rows until you find the section called ‘Included with Prime - 4K Ultra HD Movies’. Tried playing an Episode of The Grand Tour from there, and straight away it showed as HDR UHD. 

@AstroSmurf - thanks for the pointers, much appreciated!